Week 5 Podcast - Contents

Here is a run down of the Week 5 Podcast:

+ A bit of Jazz 0:00:00
+ Bonjour: Introducing the Dropkicks 0:00:13
+ Rundown of the Show 0:00:36
+ Super 14 Round 4 Reviews: Chiefs versus Reds 0:00:57; Brumbies versus Cats 0:02:55; Waratahs versus Sharks 0:06:11; Crusaders versus Blues 0:08:27; Stormers versus Highlanders 0:12:07; Cheetahs versus Hurricanes 0:13:36
+ Other Sports News: the Six Nations 0:15:04; General Rugby - Dallaglio v Corry 0:15:25; General Rubgy - Sevens 0:18:04
+ Wrestling: Rundown of the Wrestling at the Wellington Westpac Stadium - Special guests Jose Barbosa and Mike du Grande 0:19:21
+ More Sports News: Cycling - Sarah Ulmer 0:27:48; Cycling - Vanessa Quinn 0:32:51
+ Wacky Round the World 0:33:49
+ Stats 0:41:23
+ Dick of the Week 0:44:36
+ Athlete of the Week 0:47:34
+ No Pun Intended 0:50:43
+ Super 14 Round 5 Previews: Chiefs versus Crusaders 0:54:14; Waratahs versus Cats 0:56:16; Brumbies versus Sharks 0:56:56; Reds versus Force 0:59:20; Bulls versus Highlanders 1:00:27; Stormers versus Hurricanes 1:01:40;
+ The Last Word 1:04:30
Total time: 1:04:54

Week Four in Review

So, Podcast Four has come and gone. And it wasn't without it's technical hitches. Sorry, we're doing things on the cheap here (we won't even tell you how we record our sessions, because it's too embarrassing; suffice to say Thomas Alva Edison called and wants his dictaphone back). Consequently, Podcast Number 4 suffered from some, shall we say, volume issues. You could hear everything (one point to us), but if you got scared when we shouted "Wacky Round the World", be comforted in the fact that we got scared too, and we knew it was coming. Suffice to say, we are refining our techniques (yes, we have techniques) and Podcast Number 5 will be better, bigger, stronger, faster in every way. That's not to say Podcast Number 4 was weak. Oh dear Lord, no. The content was as strong as ever.

That content, of course, included our predictions for Round 4 of the Super 14. And without any more ado, here is what we got right, and what we got almost right:

- We predicted the Chiefs would beat the Reds by 1-12: partially correct (5 Virtual Rugby points). The fourth time in a row we picked the Chiefs to win by 1-12. One of these days they are going to do it too, and we'll be away laughing. With a strike force as potent as the Chiefs have got (Anisi, Sivivatu, Lauaki, Muliaina, etc) they are always going to be dangerous. As the Reds found out.
- We thought the Brumbies would hand the Cats a whomping by more than 13 points: totally correct (8 Virtual Rugby points). Despite going to sleep in the second half and the Cats waking up from their Canberra stupor, the Brumbies had done enough in the first half to ensure the win.
- After the Sharks gave the Crusaders a scare the previous week, we thought they might do the same to the Waratahs in Sydney. We didn't think they'd win, but we thought it might have been closer than it was: we picked the Waratahs by 1-12 (partially correct: 5 more Virtual Rugby points), whereas the Waratahs ended up cruising out past the 13 point margin.
- We picked the Crusaders to pound the Blues by 13+: totally correct (8 Virtual Rugby points). Richie McCaw proved, yet again, that he is a berserker machine who waylays the opposition team much as we waylay the chippie crumbs that fall onto our chests during our rugby watching sessions.
- We picked the Highlanders to sneak past the Stormers in Cape Town by 1-12: partially correct (5 Virtual Rugby points). The Stormers were, by all accounts, pretty dire, so the Highlanders actually won quite handsomely by 15 points.
- We thought the Hurricanes would find a higher gear (he he he, inside joke) against the Cheetahs and win by 1-12: totally wrong. In the end, the Hurricanes managed to ping a throstlesprocket and seize up, leaking 17 points in the last 20 minutes to the Cheetahs, who landed a tense conversion to take the game by 2 points. Hopefully the Hurricanes find the right lubricant for their next game against the Stormers (and no, that lubricant isn't alcohol, Jerry and Lome).
- The Bulls and the Force had a week off, so we didn't predict anything for them, and we were right.

Pick accuracy this week was an improving 5 out of 6 (or 83%). Grade: B+ (marked down slightly because of we picked some wrong margins). Can do better.

Coming up in podcast number 5:

A review of Week 4 of the Super 14

A review of other sport
Rugby, perhaps. Maybe some cycling. Oh, and we can't forget the wrestling.

A preview of Week 5 of the Super 14
- The Chiefs are still at home, although the Crusaders decide to stop by. Will we still pick the Chiefs to win by 1-12?
- The Waratahs host the Cats in Sydney. The Cats looked good against the Hurricanes a couple of weeks back, and won the second half against the Brumbies last week by 7-3 - have they enough to slip past the Waratahs?
- The Brumbies take on the Sharks in Canberra. Will Canberra put the Sharks to sleep before they even hit the field at Bruce Stadium? Or will it just numb their senses?
- The Force travel to Brisbane to play the Reds. Who wants the wooden spoon the most?
- The Bulls take on the Highlanders in Pretoria. Game of the round.
- The Hurricanes (minus Tana and possibly Jerry and Lome, but with Rodney and Tito back) face the underperforming Stormers in Capetown.
- The Blues and Cheetahs sit out this round.

What else?
Athlete of the Week, Dick of the Week, No Pun Intended, some stats perhaps and the ever popular Wacky Round the World (now with extra warning!).

Virtual Super 14 Update
The Dropkicks picked up 9,988 places to be 33,877th because we got 31 points. Slowly, but surely, we are assuming our rightful place.

Bull Suspensions

Here is the news about the Bulls as we promised in our Week 4 podcast.

Two Bulls players suspended


Bulls prop Jaco Engels and flanker Johan Wasserman have been suspended after incidents in last weekend's Super 14 rugby match against the New South Wales Waratahs.

Engels was banned for three weeks for punching while Wasserman received a two-week suspension for rucking an opponent.

"After careful consideration of all the evidence, including clear video evidence of the incident, and submissions made on behalf of the players, the committee found that the two players were clearly guilty of the offence," the SANZAR disciplinary committee said in a statement.

Two NSW players were also handed suspensions on Sunday for their part in the same skirmish shortly after the match began in Pretoria.

Prop Matt Dunning was banned for one match for punching while flanker Rocky Elsom was suspended for four weeks for running in to join the altercation, although he has appealed against the severity of his sentence.

Week 4 Podcast - Contents

Here is a run down of the Week 4 Podcast:

+ A bit of Jazz 0:00:00
+ Mahalo: Introducing the Dropkicks 0:00:13
+ Rundown of the Show 0:00:41
+ Super 14 Round 3 Reviews: Hurricanes versus Cats 0:01:13; Force versus Chiefs 0:04:05; Stormers versus Brumbies 0:07:14; Crusaders versus Sharks 0:07:33; Reds versus Blues 0:08:15; Bulls versus Waratahs 0:09:34; Cheetahs versus Highlanders 0:10:39
+ Other Sports News: the Six Nations 0:12:39; IRB world rankings 0:14:23; South African scandal 0:15:28; Best and Worst of Downunder 0:17:01; Kenya v Madagascar 0:20:48; Troy Fla-vell 0:21:14; the Warriors salary cap trouble, again 0:22:04; Winter Olympics review 0:23:15;
+ Wacky Round the World 0:27:00;
+ Special Guest: Donald Murray 0:33:14;
+ Stats 0:39:57
+ No Pun Intended 0:44:13
+ Dick of the Week 0:46:10
+ Athlete of the Week 0:50:05
+ Super 14 Round 4 Previews: Chiefs versus Reds 0:52:35; Brumbies versus Cats 0:53:15; Waratahs versus Sharks 0:54:55; Crusaders versus Blues 0:55:38; Stormers versus Highlanders 0:56:10; Cheetahs versus Hurricanes 0:56:58; the Dropkicks' predictions rundown 0:57:49
+ The Last Word 0:59:17
Total time: 1:00:08

Athletes of the Week

This page will be our archive of our "Athletes of the Week"

Week 1: Epiphanny Prince

Epiphanny Prince of Murry Bergtraum High School scored 113 points in a game Wednesday, breaking a girls' national prep record previously held by Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller.

Week 2: Richard “Dick” Cheney

US Vice President Dick Cheney shot Henry Wittington in the face while on a quail hunt. Ranch owner Katharine Armstrong said Mr Cheney had turned round to shoot at a bird, unaware that Mr Whittington was behind him. "The covey flushed and the vice-president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by God, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good," she said.

Week 3: Jonathon “Fatal1ty” Wendel

Jonathon “Fatal1ty” Wendel (note the “1” in Fatal1ty) just took out the Painkiller tournament in Sweden. Wendel is part of the CPL (Cyberathlete Professional League) Tour and made roughly USD$200,000 last year. At 24 years old Wendel is known as the “Tiger Woods of professional gaming”.

He is currently single.

Week 4: Jason McElwain

Jason McElwain is a student at Greece Athena Highschool and is the assissant coach and manager of the schools basketball team. He is incredibly passionate about the sport. He also has autism. In the team's last game of the regular season the coach let him "suit up". With roughly four minutes remaining in the game. The coach stands up and points at young Jase and in he goes. His first shot is a gigantic airball, his second also misses. Then he sinks a giant 3-pointer. Then another. And another. He keeps firing and sinking until at the end of the game he sinks a buzzer beater to get 20 points in four minutes (5 points per minute). The crowd has at near riot levels and when the clock showed all zeroes Jason was swept onto their shoulders and carried from the court.

Awesome. (See the video of Jason's feat here)

Week 5: George Bush Jr.

The big W visited Pakistan recently. During his visit he met the Pakistani cricket team and, after speaking to captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, gave the game a go. After correcting his baseball stance Inzamam bowled him a few balls. George managed to belt the first one, so ul-Haq bowled him a googly which actually hit the president on the shoulder. Lucky for the captain they were using tennis balls. George stared him down and then smacked the next ball as well.

Condoleeza Rice was a close runner-up for her new exercise regime that she has exposed to the world.